Kevin Love Says Cavaliers Should "Without A Doubt" Retire Kyrie Irving's Jersey
From 2015-2018, the Cleveland Cavaliers went to the NBA Finals four consecutive times and they even won their only championship in franchise history in 2016!
Obviously LeBron James was a big reason for this team’s success, but Cleveland also had two other All-Stars in Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving who were essential parts of this team’s championship run.
While Irving is now in a Brooklyn Nets’ uniform, Love still remains with the Cavaliers and on Monday night, these two teams faced off in Cleveland against one another with the Nets coming out on top 125-117.
This game was important in terms of the early season standings, as the Nets have now jumped 0.5 games in front of the Cavaliers for the 3-spot in the Eastern Conference, but for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, this was a reunion game.
Scoring 32 points on 7-11 shooting from deep, Irving reminded his old team of his talented and after the game, Love made it clear that Kyrie’s legacy in Cleveland is cemented.
“The shots he makes, you just have to sit there and say, ‘Not much you can do about that,’” Love told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “It’s been that way his whole career. That’s why he’s been such a special player in this league and continues to be.”
When asked about the idea of Kyrie Irving’s jersey being retired by Cleveland, Kevin Love did not hold back his true feelings for his former teammate.
“Without a doubt. Absolutely. Right away, after his career ends,” Love stated. “It’s not even a question to me. He needs to be up there. He made the biggest shot in franchise history and one of the most important shots in Finals history when you consider how it all went down -- what it meant for the city, what it meant for his legacy, LeBron’s legacy and everything else, including that Golden State team that became a dynasty and was historically great.”
In six total seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the franchise that drafted him first overall in 2011, Irving averaged 21.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from three-point range.
Irving truly did hit one of the biggest shots in not just NBA Finals history, but NBA history, as a whole as Love stated, when he sank a three-point shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals with 53 seconds left to put the Cavs up three on the Warriors.
During his six seasons with the Cavaliers, Irving made four All-Star Game appearances and he earned All-NBA Second Team honors once. He was also named the 2011-12 NBA Rookie of the Year with Cleveland.
Winning this championship in 2016 for the Cavaliers was a big deal for the city of Cleveland and it would not be shocking if Kyrie Irving gets his jersey retired with the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Love one day.
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